


Tears don't lie

by asamandra



Category: Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Crying, M/M, Prompt Fill, avengerkink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-10-27 17:03:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10813164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asamandra/pseuds/asamandra
Summary: 5 times Tony cried because he was sad or hurt and 1 time he cried because he was happy





	1. 5 Childhood

**Author's Note:**

> [This prompt:](http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/21438.html?thread=54956478#t54956478)  
>     
> gen or any/Tony, 5 + 1 Tony crying
> 
> something like 5 times Tony cried because he was sad/hurt/whatever and one time he cried because he was happy. Give me some nice whump followed up by fluff. Include as much of the team as you can!

One of the best things that happened in Tony’s young life was his father’s decision to send him to a boarding school. He loved his mom, but he was glad not to have to see his father every day. But then, in the summer holidays, he had to come back home.

Jarvis fetched him from the station because he had to drive back by train. No one had the time to get him from the school. Jarvis had told him that his mom was sick and that his father had work to do. Tony nodded and went to the waiting car. Maybe he wasn’t that old, but he knew what he meant. Father was still searching for Captain America and mom… she was probably too drunk to get him.

So he sat in the back of the car, toying around with the small car he had gotten from Jarvis when he left for school and looked out of the window. A knot formed in his stomach when he saw the mansion and he pressed his nails in his arms.

“Are you okay, Tony?” Jarvis asked, looking at him in the rearview mirror. Tony turned his head to look at him and nodded after a long moment.

“Yes,” he said, and he had no idea if he wanted to convince Jarvis or himself. When he entered the house it seemed empty. No one was here to welcome him. His father was away on one of his missions and mom… she was in a hospital Jarvis had told him while driving. But he knew it was because she drank too much wine again.

Tony took his model car and his rucksack and went to his bedroom. It was empty, too. No one was here. The school wasn’t perfect, but he had friends there, and always was someone around him but here was alone. He took a deep breath, went to his bed and sat down. Long weeks alone in this house lay ahead of him and the tears started to run over his face.


	2. 4 College

He was seventeen, when he stood at the cemetery, looking at the open grave. Men just lowered the casket with his father inside into it. He wore a black suit, black tie and shades and Obadiah stood beside him, a hand on his shoulder. But his face was a stony, blank mask. He held his hands folded in front of him and let his eyes roam over all the people attending the funeral. Some of them he knew, but most of them… he had no idea who they were and if they really knew his parents or if they were just here to see if he would cry.

But he wouldn’t. He couldn’t. His father always told him to keep his countenance and he wouldn’t disappoint him. Not here. Not today. When the men went to lower the casket of his mother beside his father’s, he had to swallow hard. Even with all her flaws, he missed his mom and he knew it would get worse in the coming weeks. 

He let his mind wander back to the day the headmaster of his college called him to his office. Obadiah was there, too, and they asked him to sit down. 

“What happened?” He asked immediately. He knew something was really wrong the way the two men looked at him. 

“Tony,” Obie said and rose from the chair he sat in. 

“What happened, Obie,” he asked again. And for the first time he saw the man speechless. It was the headmaster who told him.

“I’m afraid, we have to tell you, your parents had an accident, Mr. Stark,” he said, and rose, too. 

“What… How… how are they? Are they…” The headmaster lowered his eyes for a second and Tony understood. 

“No,” he said and shook his head, before anyone could say something. “No, Obie, that… that’s not true, right? They are in the hospital and… they will be okay, right?” 

“Tony, I’m so sorry,” Obie said and made a step in his direction, but Tony straightened his back.

“Thank you for telling me,” he said, his voice barely wavering. He hurried out of the office, almost ran over the campus and to his dorm. He slammed the door shut and flopped down on his bed. With wavering hands he reached for his cushion, pressed it against his chest and wrapped his arms around it, sobbed and didn’t hold back the tears any longer.


	3. 3 Afghanistan

The presentation should be a cakewalk. Go in, show them the Jericho, take orders and fly back home. That’s it. But it wasn’t so easy. 

Okay, the presentation _was_ a cakewalk, but then he made the mistake and got into the fun-vee. When the shooting started he tried to stay low, tried to hide behind a rock. And then there was a bomb beside him with his own name on it, and… pain. 

He had no idea what happened next but he woke in a cave. An older man with glasses and a suit stood over him and there was more pain, hot, searing pain, cutting into his chest. Tony screamed, and tears of pain ran over his face. He tried to move his hands but it was impossible. When he struggled, the man looked at him with a strange expression on his face. His hands were bloody when he pressed something between his teeth. Tony bit on it and the pain returned. He screamed into the bit when the man cut open his chest, but he couldn’t get away. He felt something wet running over his chest - his own blood - and his face - tears. And then darkness again. 

He woke once more, and his whole body hurt, especially his chest. The man he had seen earlier stood beside him, and this time, he could move his hands. There was a hose in his nose and he pulled it out. And then he touched the thing in his chest ripped away the dressing, and the man he’d seen earlier stopped him before he could do more harm. 

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he said. Tony looked and saw wires running out of his body. 

“What the hell did you do to me?” He asked and tried to touch it again. 

“What I did is to save your life. That is an electromagnet, hooked up to a car battery. I removed as much shrapnel from your chest as I could, but there are still some pieces left. I've seen plenty of injuries like that. In my village we call those casualties "the walking dead," because they take about a week to reach your heart.” 

And then _they_ came in...


	4. 2 Rumlow

Tony was in his lab when the bomb went off. One moment he was arms deep in the wiring of his suit and the next moment he was buried under debris and his right leg hurt like hell. A steel rod protruded out of his thigh and nailed him to the floor, literally. He screamed and clutched the rod with his hands but he couldn’t move it an inch. But when he tried to move his leg, it started to bleed and the excruciating pain almost made him vomit. 

“Help,” he rasped, not sure if someone could hear him. “Jarvis? Anyone?” 

No one answered. But the floor seemed to move and suddenly it hurt even more. Tony screamed again, and he could feel the tears runing over his face. And now not only dust trickled down and into his eyes, no, now he couldn’t move his left arm anymore because a huge piece of junk pressed on it.

“Hello?” He called again. “Help, please!” 

“Tony?” A muffled voice called, and more debris trickled down into his eyes. 

“Clint!” He exclaimed. “I’m here,” he moaned when the rubble moved and the rod in his leg changed his position. He screamed and more tears left his eyes. He heard stones being thrown away. “What happened?” He groaned. He needed to know.

“Cap says Rumlow managed to get a bomb in the tower,” Clint panted. “Shit!” He cursed and the pain in Tony’s leg increased, the rod moved and the blood started to flow again. He couldn’t hold back the scream, and Clint muttered under his breath.

“Hold on, I’m almost there,” he said then. And the pain became excruciating again. He started to lose consciousness, everything blurred around the edges and then there was light.

“No, no, no, no, no,” he heard a voice, and someone - Clint? - touched his face. “No, Tony, don’t do that, don’t you dare die on me now.” 

“Hurt,” he rasped, and even the small word was painful. 

“I know,” someone said and the darkness grasped him, pulled him down. “You’re safe now, I have you.”


	5. 1 Clint

“Whatever they do, Tony, promise me, not to give in,” Clint whispered insistently. “You know what they want and you know we can’t let them have it.” 

“I know, Clint, but…” Tony stopped, and bit his lip. He couldn’t look Clint in the eyes. 

Two days ago they got captured. It wasn’t on a mission or anything, it was while they were on a date. They were in a restaurant and afterwards they wanted to go to a club, but when they left the car, the guys were there and they held Happy at gunpoint. Clint couldn’t risk to get him hurt and so the evil guys - they still had no idea who they were - tied them up and took them with them. Fortunately they left Happy in the car. Unconscious, but unharmed otherwise. 

And then, when they were in their _dungeon_ , locked in cells, they told them what they wanted. They wanted an Iron Man suit. And since they needed Tony to build it to their specs, they threatened to hurt Clint.

“You can’t let them have it!” Clint repeated. “Promise me not to give in.” 

“But they said they would hurt you,” Tony whispered. “They… they…” 

“I can take it,” Clint said. “I’ve got torture training, I can withstand it.” 

“Clint, please… don’t make me…” Tony’s voice hitched. “Don’t make me choose between you and my tech.” 

“You don’t have to, because I decided for you. You don’t give in, whatever they do,” Clint said, and took Tony’s hands through the bars. “Promise me!” 

“I… I promise, Clint,” Tony pressed through his teeth and his voice hitched again. Clint cupped his cheek through the bars that separated them and smiled reassuringly. But before Tony could say anything, the evil guys came back. 

“Aww, how touching,” one of them grinned. He planted himself in front of the cells and folded his arms over his chest. “So, Mr Stark. You’ve had time to overthink our request. What do you say?” 

Tony looked at Clint, and when he nodded, he turned to look at the man. “No. I won’t give you a suit.” 

“Are you sure about this?” The man asked again. He glared at Tony angrily but Tony stayed adamant, just as Clint had said he should. 

“Yes, I am sure,” he said, his voice icy. 

“Well,” the man shrugged and gestured over his shoulder to the four men behind him. They went to Clint’s cell, opened it and went in. Clint tried to fight, but the cell was small and he couldn’t move. So it took only a few seconds to tie his hands to the bars above him and to rip off his shirt. 

Tony grabbed the steel bars, his fingers white but Clint nodded in his direction again. And when the whip hit Clint’s back, when he started to groan and scream in pain, tears ran over Tony’s face.


	6. +1 Clint (again)

“Breathe, Tony,” Rhodey said and steered him to a chair. He put a hand on Tony’s shoulder and pressed him onto the chair. 

“What?” Tony croaked, when Rhodey pressed a paper bag in his hand. 

“Use it,” Rhodey said, and after a few moments of confused staring, Tony breathed into the bag. “Better?” 

“No,” Tony shook his head. His hands trembled violently and he wanted to get rid of the damn tie. Somehow it tried to suffocate him, which was ridiculous because he wore ties every day. 

“Come on,” Rhodey hunkered down in front of him. “You can do it.” 

“Are you… are you sure?” Tony’s voice wavered a bit. 

“Yes, I am sure. And now, stand up,” Rhodey held out his hand and helped Tony up, who threw the paper bag onto the empty chair. But when he stood, he swallowed and wanted to turn around. 

“No… no, I… I can’t…” he said, and shook his head. “I…” 

“What? The great Tony Stark got cold feet?” Rhodey mocked. Tony turned back and glared at him. 

“NO! It’s…” He looked at his hands and saw them trembling. “I… I don’t think I’m the right one…” 

“Tony,” Rhodey sighed exasperated. “You _are_ the right one and if you manage to go out there you’ll see it with your own eyes.” 

“But…” He started again. Rhodey didn’t bother with an answer, he just rolled his eyes, straightened Tony’s tie and the lapels of his jacket and then he shoved him to the other door. 

“Ready?” Rhodey asked and smiled reassuringly. Tony shook his head.

“No, not really,” he admitted. Rhodey smirked, nodded, and turned him to the door. 

“Good,” he said. “Let’s go. It’s time.” He reached around Tony, opened the door and went to stand beside him. On the other side of the chapel a similar door went open almost the same time. Clint stood there, wearing the same suit as Tony and was as pale as a sheet, too. Natasha had a hand on his shoulder and shoved him out into the chapel, where the musicians started to play the ‘Prince of Denmark’s march’. Clint also started to smile and to move his feet. Rhodey gave Tony a tiny shove and they started to walk into the middle of the room where the celebrant waited for them. 

Rhodey and Natasha stood beside their best friends during the ceremony. Tony held Clint’s hand, and stroked it with his thumb every now and then, they said their vows and when the celebrant finally said, “I pronounce you husband and husband,” Tony was sure he would burst right then and there. He was so incredibly happy when he turned to Clint and when the man - _his_ husband - smiled at him, Tony couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. He touched Clint’s face with his hand, wrapped his other hand around his waist and kissed him, long, deep and passionate. 

“I love you, Mr. Stark,” he whispered. 

“I love you, too, Mr. Stark,” Clint smiled. And he wiped away a tear with the back of his hand.

**Author's Note:**

> [asamandra on tumblr](http://asamandra.tumblr.com/)


End file.
